- Version
- Download 32
- File Size 249.86 KB
- File Count 1
- Create Date May 7, 2025
- Last Updated May 7, 2025
SENATE HANSARD 07 MAY 2025 Vol. 34 No. 44
PARLIAMENT OF ZIMBABWE
Wednesday, 7th May, 2025
The Senate met at Half-past Two o’clock p.m.
PRAYERS
(THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE in the Chair)
ANNOUNCEMENT BY THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE
DIPLOMATIC TRAINING WORKSHOP
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: I wish to inform the Senate that all Senators who are in the second group of the Diplomatic Training Workshop are hereby advised that the workshop will be held at the Golden Peacock Villa Hotel in Mutare from the 8th – 12th May, 2025. The 8th and 12th being travelling dates. The bus will leave the Parliament car park on Thursday, 8th May, 2025 at 1500 hours. All Honourable Senators who were contacted by the External Relations Department and had confirmed participation should attend the workshop without fail as there are no slots on the future groups.
SWITCHING OFF OF CELLPHONES
THE HON. DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Senators are reminded to put their gadgets on silence or better still switch them off.
MOTION
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
HON. SEN. GOTORA: I move that Order of the Day, Numbers 1 and 2 be stood over until the rest of the Orders of the Day have been disposed of.
HON. SEN. SHIRI: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
MOTION
CONDOLENCES ON THE DEATH OF THE FORMER DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE HON. CHEN. CHENHAMO CHAKEZHA CHIMUTENGWENDE
Third Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the sudden death of the former Deputy President of the Senate Hon. Chen. Chenhamo Chakezha Chimutengwende.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHAPFUDZA: I would like to thank you Mr. President for the opportunity that you gave me. I do not have much to say but I would like to thank Hon. Senator Tongogara for raising this motion over the loss of Cde. Chimutengwende. All I want to say is, that when somebody builds a name, even if you may not know that person, you will have something to say because a name was made. I would like to encourage all Members of Parliament to do our work diligently so that even if we pass on, our children will not be insulted. We will be remembered that we did a great job in Parliament. So, I would like to say, indeed the late Hon. Senator Chimtengwende performed his duties diligently to be declared the Deputy President of Parliament.
If you do something good, it is for the good of the whole clan and the community. If you represent people from Masvingo, it will tarnish the image of where you come from. Good work translates into a good image for the people you represent. It is good to perform well during the time we have been allowed by the Lord. So, I would like to say, yes, we should thank God for that because it is God who made him able to perform his duties diligently. Even for a parent who served a company, when you leave a good name, it is always good. Even Jesus Christ was good to people, so let us be good before people as well as before God. I thank you.
*HON. SEN. SHIRI: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to also debate. I would like to say, my sincere condolences in that we lost the late Hon. Senator Chumtengwe on the 16th January, 2025. I am also one of the people who got an opportunity to work with the late Senator as the Deputy President in the 8th Parliament. Indeed, a good name remains forever and it is always good. We worked with him as a fatherly figure.
I remember one day when we were in the Old Parliament, when we were walking around in the corridor, I was moving with my crutches in front of him. I stood aside to let him pass since I thought that I was slowing him down. He said, no, let us move side by side and he asked me whether I was feeling any pain.
Although I was very much afraid that I could talk to the Senate President in the corridor, we had a chat that day. He was a fatherly figure who loved everyone. Even if he was seated right in front, he would see everyone and allow them to talk. As a country, he left a good legacy to us. Wherever we read or talk about him, we always realise that indeed he was a hero of heroes.
He also brought us the liberation that we enjoy today as a country where we enjoy the benefits that he fought for, especially the land and the independence, enabling us to continue building the country as Zimbabweans.
When we went to the National Heroes Acre, it was a triple burial and the shrine was full as they bid farewell to him and also paid tribute to him that he did a splendid job. This is a lesson to us wherever we go, where we work, what sort of legacy or name that we are leaving behind. We should emulate and learn from good examples of others. What are we learning from others as leaders representing people? As we interact with people, we learn a lot of good things from other people.
There is a common saying that everyone is intelligent or bright but the moment they speak, sometimes you discover that there is nothing in terms of intelligence. So indeed, we need to emulate good deeds. Being a leader is not an easy thing. Leadership needs expertise, humility and also patience. As a leader, you do not need to be boastful. That is why we are supposed to be called honorable. The people are the ones that should honour us and give us that respect. I would like to applaud the Hon. Senator who raised this motion. I always ask myself whether I will get to the level of the late Hon. Senator Chimutengwende by leading people, whether I will be able to achieve what he did because it is not easy to achieve that since you will be representing a lot of people. I thank you very much for giving me this opportunity and I say may his soul rest in eternal peace. We will always remember him.
*HON. SEN. GWATURE: Thank you Mr. President. I stand up to applaud the late Hon. Senator Chimutengwende. He came from my Province, Mashonaland in Central. That is why I stood up and indeed I would like to applaud the Hon. Senator for raising this motion because Hon. Senator Chimutengwende, the late, was not selective. As leaders, sometimes we may have bias of preferring people who come from the same area as ourselves but Hon. Senator Chimutengwende was not like that. He would call you and ask you why you did that regardless of who you are. So that is why I decided to also pay my tribute. Even on the day he passed away on the 16th, like what Hon. Senator Shiri said, Mashonaland Central cried because of what Hon. Senator Chimutengwende was doing. He was a humble person and not boastful at all. I only got to hear that he was Deputy President here. Back home, we never knew all that but for our peers, we are so troublesome. We always call for attention and remind people that we are Senators.
I really would like to applaud him that he left a good lesson for me. I also would like to thank this honourable august House for accepting that motion that we will always remember him for the good deeds and the good works that he did in our Province, be it in Senate or the whole family. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: Thank you Mr. President of Senate for allowing me to add my voice on the life of the late Hon. Senator Chimutengwende. I had the opportunity to work with the late Deputy President of Senate in the Eighth Parliament. I met him when I was coming to Parliament. Looking at his work, he was a fatherly figure. He was tolerant and would not get angry easily. He would allow you to explain whatever you wanted and he would respond to you, even though he had a very big post here at Parliament. He showed that he had so much love for people. We realised that he was a Member of Parliament for 23 years in the National Assembly. This means he would be re-elected over and over again. That showed that he worked well with other people because we realise that some people would be re-elected once and the next time they would not be re-elected.
The late Senator was also very patriotic. Even when there was a misunderstanding between our Government and America, he was one of those people who was trying to broker peace since he also went to school abroad, around the UK. The Government led by the former late President Mugabe also used him to try and make such efforts. That shows that he was also always trying to do something for his country all the time. The other thing is that we realised that even if you are a Senator or a Member of Parliament, you no longer have time to talk to people from all walks of life. For some of us, when they go back home, they act as if they have much higher offices and look down upon the people who have ordinary lives yet they are the electorate. So, the lesson we get from the late Senator is that all of us must humble ourselves to the people who elected us into office, so that when they see us, they will admire our conduct. This is because we are also elected by the people and should do what people want.
The other lesson we get from the late Senator is that we should represent people well. Let us bring the requests of the people we represent in full and express it as it is as well as conveying the pains they come across. If we do not do that, it means we have failed to emulate those who worked diligently such as the late Hon. Senator Chimutengwende. While we represent people in this House, it means the electorate will be happy that they sent a representative who values building this country.
We no longer have time to insult each other. We can only trade insults in rallies but here, let us focus on building the country and ensuring that our country develops. Mr. President, I would like to conclude by saying that the late Hon. Senator Chimutengwende will always be remembered. We also should continue doing good works that are progressive for the development of the country and give the country a good image as we try to unite with those countries that we may not have good relations with, like what the President referred to as engagement and re-engagement so that our country may be able to trade with other countries as we get what we do not have and also give out what we have. With those few words, I would like to thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: Thank you Mr. President. I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 8th May, 2025.
MOTION
BLENDING OF IMPORTED GASOLINE WITH LOCALLY PRODUCED ETHANOL
Fifth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the blending of fuel with ethanol.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you Mr. President. I wish to take this opportunity to wind up this motion because it has been on the Order Paper for quite some time. It is my feeling that Members have exhaustively contributed to the motion.
Mr. President, let me thank you and your team for allowing Members to contribute to this motion on the blending of fuel with ethanol. I am so happy because it has a very good subscription. However, I must restate again my concern regarding the winding up of motions. At some stage, we were told that for the motion to be adopted and to be valid, we need the relevant ministers to respond. In the absence of that activity and fearing that this motion will just collapse, I wind it up with a heavy heart that this House;-
ACKNOWLEDGING the blending of imported gasoline with our locally produced ethanol as a way of reducing the import bill as by 25%;
DISPUTING the assertion that blending fuel with ethanol reduces environmental pollution, particularly the emission of carbon dioxide;
DISTURBED that blending fuel as currently done increases the cost of fuel to the consumer thereby increasing the general cost of producing goods and other services to our people;
FURTHER CONCERNED that blended petrol is not suitable for some petrol engines and can damage some engines:
NOW, THEREFORE, this House urges the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to-
(a) ensure that local suppliers of ethanol supply this product at prices commensurate to the landing cost of importing ethanol;
(b) demand that the local ethanol is supplied to blenders at a uniform price by all producers; and
(c) ensure that some of the fuel is not blended to allow the choice to procure fuel that is compatible with their vehicle engines.
Mr. President, with a request that emphasis be redoubled that ministers take these motions seriously, when we come through here to propose these motions in this august House, we do that having spent a lot of time researching and checking with communities. The communities sometimes actually feed into this motion that we come with. They also expect to see some traction with respect to the areas of concern.
Notwithstanding all this Mr. President, let me express my appreciation to Members who supported the motion and supported that whereas the idea of blending is noble, however, the trickle-down effect, the real benefit to the old man and young men walking the streets of Mkoba in Gweru and the mother traversing the inter township distances in Bikita do not seem to see the benefit of blending. The prices are not reduced on the basis of blending and even for those who look at macro-economics, the idea of blending should be an import substitution activity. We are saying 25% of the fuel is a local product, hencewe must see the benefit. However, for reasons that we least understand, we buy this ethanol from one Billy Rautenbach and from Triangle, Tongaat Hullet in US dollars. Effectively, it is still an import draining the foreign currency account of this country, hence we are not seeing the benefit. Is there a hidden benefit somewhere? This is the question. Is this in the interest of the people or is this in the interest of the national purse or individual purses?
THE HON DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Order, Hon. Senator Zvidzai! I think up to now you had put your case very strongly but you are now restarting the whole debate. I sympathise with what you have said but you are now winding up. You made a very strong case, so please continue.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Thank you very much Mr. President for appreciating the point and still sticking to procedure. In brief, I am thanking my colleagues who ventilated and excavated some of these points that I had not raised. I also wish to recognise that there are one or two Members who may have had slightly divergent views regarding this, but the crux of the matter was not opposed by any single Member of this august House. For this reason therefore, Mr. President, I wish to propose that this motion be adopted.
THE HON DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you very much Hon. Senator Zvidzai. As I alluded to when I made a comment, when I interrupted you, I totally agree with you in that you raised some very serious issues in your motion and I think justice would have been done to this House to your motion if the relevant and responsible Minister had come to respond to these issues. The role of Parliament is very clear in the Constitution; which is to represent, to legislate and oversight. The fact that the relevant Minister did not come to respond to this is sad, especially when there are serious issues which need to be responded to. So, I take your point and we are definitely going to take it up as Parliament leadership so that Ministers come to respond.
Motion that this House:
ACKNOWLEDGING the blending of imported gasoline with our locally produced ethanol as a way of reducing the import bill as by 25%;
DISPUTING the assertion that blending fuel with ethanol reduces environmental pollution particularly the emission of carbon dioxide;
DISTURBED that blending fuel as currently done increases the cost of fuel to the consumer thereby increasing the general cost of producing goods and other services to our people;
FURTHER CONCERNED that blended petrol is not suitable for some petrol engines and can damage some engines:
NOW, THEREFORE, this House urges the Ministry of Industry and Commerce to; (a) ensure that local suppliers of ethanol supply this product at prices commensurate to landing cost of importing ethanol; (b) demand that the local ethanol is supplied to blenders at a uniform price by all producers; and (c) ensure that some of the fuel is not blended to allow the choice to procure fuel that is compatible with their vehicle engines, put and agreed to.
MOTION
CONGRATULARY MESSAGE TO HON. MINISTER KIRSTY COVENTRY ON APPOINTMENT TO IOC PRESIDENCY
Fourth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on a congratulatory message to the former Hon. Minister Kirsty Coventry on her election to the international Olympic Committee Presidency in Greece.
HON. SEN. CHAPFUDZA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: I second Mr. President.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 8th May, 2025.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON CULTURE AND HERITAGE ON THE TRADITIONAL COURT SYSTEMS IN ZIMBABWE
Sixth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the Report of the Thematic Committee on Culture and Heritage on the Traditional Court System in Zimbabwe.
HON. SEN. ZVIDZAI: Mr. President, thank you once more for allowing me this opportunity to contribute to this most important motion on the traditional court system in Zimbabwe. I wish to thank our Committee Chairperson, Hon. Senator Chief Nechombo for shepherding the Committee very well and managing the fact-finding programme around the traditional court system in a most efficient manner.
Mr. President, the people out there expressed a lot of respect, a lot of interest in our traditional court system. Indeed, the Chairperson's style of managing the hearings allowed even the most downtrodden people to contribute on how the traditional court system can be of better use to the people. So Mr. President, the crux of this report, the nub of it is around the need to strengthen the traditional court system so that it can deliver better for the people and also, to pursue the modernisation of the traditional court system so that again, it can deliver justice in a better and more efficient way. I am talking about modernisation, which is often confused with westernisation. Here, we are talking about our traditional court system and improving it so that it is more accessible and affordable to the generality of the people of Zimbabwe and that it can listen better to the people as well as deliver justice in a manner that pleases the communities. This is the nub of the whole report Mr. President.
However, what is the justification for wanting to modernise this tool when the argument exists that the formal court system already exists and is delivering? There is merit and benefit in strengthening and sustaining our traditional court system. There is a Pan-Africanist approach to all this. Pan-Africans are beginning to strengthen the Sankofa Movement, Sankofa being a Ghanaian word for ‘get out there and recapture it, bring it back, go and fetch it, bring it back, re-find it, and make use of it for the benefit of the people’. We are losing it. We are losing our traditional systems to modern formal court systems and losing certain benefits with that.
Mr. President, although this motion is looking at the narrower thing around the traditional court system, there is need to revive and reclaim our heritage, culture, system, spirituality and deploy it for development. I am sure that if we recover our knowledge systems and go back to ourselves, we can develop more intensely than we are currently doing. If we look at our spirituality as Africans, we believe in those things that perhaps cannot be proved but they work as opposed to the junior approach of materialism, socialism and all those material things. Our own belief system is so superior to the modern way of doing things. In our systems, social justice is built into our court systems, empowerment in our traditional systems. We all know that if you have 60 cattle and then another person in the village without draft power, no source of organic fertilizer, if you lend that person few cattle for draft power and manure for the children to have better food security and better nutrition, that is empowerment coming from our traditional court systems as opposed to the selfish approach of what the so called modern system where each man is for himself and God for us all. We are not in there.
Apart from just talking about the traditional court system, we must recover ourselves or just be on the lookout. Looking more specifically at the traditional court system, you will find that we have got our own hierarchy. We have the elders at home, Sabhuku, Sadunhu and the chief. When they dealt with the issues in the olden days, the traditional leaders dealt with anything that went wrong in the communities, be it rape, pilferage, murder or quarrels between husband and wife, they have a way of dealing with them. There comes a system that believes it is better, it then limits the traditional court system to peripheral things, which I think is most unfortunate because before the arrival of these people who claim to have discovered us, we had our own way and we lived in harmony. We had methods of transforming conflict into opportunity.
Mr. President, where I come from which is where Hon. Senator Mavenyengwa also comes from, if murder was committed between families, the solution was never an eye for an eye. It was how we could transform this into an opportunity. I am not suggesting that it must happen again today but if there was murder, the culprit’s family would be asked to pay say a herd of 12 cattle and deliver a dump sale who becomes a wife in the home of the murdered. It was unfortunate that if foisted something down the thought of the young girl but with respect, the murder conflict issue would have been resolved and moving a generation further, the dump sale is married by one of the members of the family and produces grandchildren for the area where people where murdered. The conflict would have been transformed, harmony created in the community and development furthered. I do not suggest that must happen today but this is why I spoke about modernisation.
The traditional court system deals with those issues and then the formal court system walks into the traditional court system and disturbs it. If a person is aggrieved by a judgment given by a chief, the person runs to the Magistrates Court and appeals there where a complete different set of values is used. As a result, the traditional court system is naturally subordinated to the formal system because people appeal to the Magistrate Court and throw out what the traditional court system would have decided. Walking from one system into another is what needs to be dealt with and in my opinion as suggested in the report, we must have a hierarchy that goes to an equivalent of the Supreme Court but within the traditional court system so that we have got an appeal system in the traditional court system right up to the end of the case. I think if we did that, our traditional court system will re-enjoy its esteem. It would be able to make sure that the harmony that existed out there is reborn and people who may not be able to access justice on account of incapacity to pay for it in the formal court system will enjoy this justice through the traditional court system because it is friendly, you speak to it in your own language, you can touch it, you can complain and appeal to the next level until the matter is concluded. That is the proposal that law should be met to enable the traditional court system to conclusively deal with issues that come through that route.
Secondly, is the issue of modernisation. Today we might also want to think of the role of vahosi in the traditional court system – the mediation that is important to people. In the modernisation thrust, the womenfolk’s desire that the traditional court system infuse women into the court systems so that the fairer gender can be more comfortable when they go to the traditional court system. This should be encouraged in a quest for inclusivity, affordability and to make sure that eventually everybody is happy when they go to the court system. This is a message to our traditional leaders here that there is no harm in my opinion and I believe there are some chieftainships already that are having women as assessors in their courts.
I do not think there is any harm in there but it is just a proposal for modernisation and making women more comfortable to go to those courts. In any case, if they feel more comfortable, the subscription will improve. More people will go to the traditional court system. With these few remarks, I wish to thank you for giving me this opportunity. I thank you.
^HON. SEN. FANUEL: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity. I am a member of the Thematic Committee on Culture and Heritage and I would like to applaud our Chairman, Hon. Senator Chief Nechombo who led us as we conducted our tours. That was very important and as a Committee, we decided that we needed to make tours to all corners of the country and visit people.
We visited all the provinces and it appeared as if it was the people’s first time to know their rights. We visited various places. Right now, we are promoting women who must be able to stand up in court. We asked that since Zimbabwe is free, we wanted to find out whether anyone is moving around dressed in a pair of trousers. We all realised that indeed in all the parts that we visited, everyone was dressed in a dignified way. In all districts, women dress in a dignified manner.
Some of the traditional courts are meant to preserve the rights. When we sat down with the people, we realised that sometimes people seem to be oppressed and also that traditional court systems lack the knowledge. Everyone must play their role correctly to enable the kraal heads to perform their duties well. A chief can be taken to a magistrates court and when the kraal head or village head reports to the chiefs, the chiefs are then supposed to be taken to court. Such a scenario is not dignified because the chief is supposed to discuss it with the village head and the accused person. The chief will end up being taken to court. Everyone must be able to speak freely in this country so that it gives a good image of Zimbabwe.
Sometimes people are afraid. People must be addressed so that they all turn up. In some areas, there is no politics to be considered. When it comes to issues like courts, people must be invited as they are. If they are not informed or educated, they may not be able to go. We realise that in some areas, people do not know their rights. Some of the people called us aside and asked us - is that what you came for? When you told us about courts, we thought we were going to be arrested. Some people are always afraid when they hear about courts.
Leaders such as village heads or councillors must inform people properly about courts. People are living in oppression without being oppressed by anyone. We are oppressing ourselves. This Committee on Culture and Heritage is going to free a lot of people because they are going to know more about courts. If we observe a day on culture, people will be able to know that when games are hosted, education should also be included in such areas so that they know that if you do such a thing you can be arrested for that. I thank you.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 8th May, 2025.
MOTION
CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS AND WATER STORAGE FACILITIES
Seventh Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on climate change mitigation.
Question again proposed.
*HON. SEN. CHAPFUDZA: Thank you Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to debate on the motion raised by Hon. Senator Mavenyengwa about climate change as well as poor rainfall leading to drought in this country. I support this motion in full. I agree that it is not raining properly. The Senator who raised this motion is saying Government must take measures because sometimes we have short seasons. It may rain heavily within a few weeks but the rains will not be good enough to raise crops because it will have only rained in a short space of time although the crops may need time to grow and mature. The Senator encouraged Government to ensure that that type of rainfall which may come must be harvested so that we may be able to continue farming all year round using preserved water. The Hon. Senator comes from where I come from and it is one of the areas where there is a lot of rain. We have a lot of dams yet Masvingo is one of the most drought-stricken areas, worse than any other province. Yes indeed, in Masvingo, we do not cry much about dams but we are saying we cannot use buckets to fetch water from the dams.
May the Government invest in irrigation? Government must invest in that technology to ensure that water may be harvested from upstream damsso that water is not only meant to benefit those downstream. Even those upstream should be able to use that water to survive. So, the Hon. Senator is encouraging that kind of thinking that we should not be stuck in the past but let us modernise our thinking to ensure that people benefit, including those who are upstream. Looking also at what is happening due to climate change, even the crops that we now grow, as we grew up, a certain portion was reserved for a certain crop like maize and even those who inherited that field are stuck in that same mindset.
Let us appreciate that there is a need for crop rotation. Let us also modernise our crops such as small grains that are tolerant to the changes of the weather and climate. It is true that a hungry nation is an insecure nation. We cannot look up to donors to supply us with food because some of these donations are affecting the health of our people. Our sovereignty must also translate into being able to produce our food. The Hon. Senator who brought this motion is saying our independence also translates to being able to know the type of food that we produce. GMOs are not good for our health. Sovereignty can only be secure when we grow our food.
We cannot talk about it when we do not grow our own food. What if those donors stop? If we are unable to secure our own food, we compromise our independence. My wish is for independence to be proper, we need food security. This motion should address issues that even in times of bad rainfall patterns, we should ensure food security in the country. I thank you Mr. President.
*HON. SEN. C. MUTSVANGWA: Thank you Mr. President. I am very glad about the motion raised by Hon. Senator Mavenyengwa. I support the words raised by the previous speaker, especially about small grains. They should be promoted, especially in drought-prone areas so that we do not depend on maize because it requires a lot of water to grow well. In addition, maize does not have a lot of nutrients. There is a Portuguese who wrote something when they visited this country in Munhumutapa, just like how all the traders were going around the country looking for gold. The Portuguese man realised that the people here were very healthy and strong. They sent a message to the King back in Portugal to say let us forget about fighting these people because they are much stronger physically than us. That happened before maize was introduced in Southern Africa. You should know that the origin of maize is Central America and Mexico. It was brought by the Portuguese when they came after the 16th century. Maybe, they started receiving the maize, but originally it was not our staple food. What we are doing, encouraging small grains, is reverting to our culture of healthy people. Those people who attempted or came with the intention of colonising us realised that indeed we are much stronger physically than them. So, there is much wisdom in what the President of the Second Republic is saying about going back to small grains and prioritising nutrition in our crops to ensure that drought-prone areas may have other sources of food different from maize.
Last year, there was a serious drought but because of the wisdom of our Government, begging was very little without reverting to what the foreigners would say. In the past, USAID would boast that Zimbabwe cannot feed themselves, they are fed by Americans. I do not know whether the President prophesied that President Trump was the one who would win in the elections, knowing that after the election of President Trump, he would stop USAID. So, we are no longer affected by that with regard to food donations. We are looking at exporting wheat because of the bumper harvest. Indeed, the promotion of irrigation alluded to by the Hon. Senator Chapfudza ensures that we continue growing our crops all the time.
We may look at ways such as drip irrigation that is accurate in terms of water distribution. So, the introduction of solar also reduces the cost of irrigation. Pumps are now available because of the availability of such power. People can extract water from wells and irrigate using the drip system that can lead to benefits which are beyond food security, but for trading as well. In addition, Starlink is providing network everywhere, you are now able to communicate, be it banking, our banks are now in our pockets. Right now, your phone can actually look for where you are instead of having to go into someone else’s house to make a call. So, if we were able to look into that as a holistic approach, you can be able to know the price of your crops before you even start your journey. These are all efforts by our President Mnangagwa.
Zimbabwe is a well-known country worldwide. There is the Dutch Intuitional of Agriculture that says no country is more blessed than Zimbabwe in terms of agriculture. Any crop that you will plant will germinate. I refer to the variety of crops that are being grown in this country such as macadamia in Manicaland. Some of our youths are now selling blueberries. If you go to Hong Kong, you will eat blueberries from Zimbabwe. Our crops enter the market earlier than other countries. Hence, they fetch higher prices. This will encourage the youths to venture into agriculture because that will translate into benefits for them.
Tobacco farmers in Hurungwe, if they were to venture into drip irrigation, their crops would grow bigger. Our tobacco auction system is the best in the world. Someone was very happy that all the tobacco was being sold at USD2 and above. When we are talking about US dollars, President Mnangagwa has addressed the issue of currency in this country. In the past, you would go to the toilets and when you come back the prices would have gone up. Even when you are in queues, the prices would change but President Mnangagwa has addressed that issue with the new Reserve Bank Governor.
Right now people in rural areas have gained confidence in the currency. So, the stability of the ZiG exchange rate will boost the confidence in the currency and it will be used in the agriculture sector. This is a progressive motion and I would like to thank the past speaker. I thank you.
+HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President of Senate Sir, for affording me this opportunity to add my voice on this motion that was tabled by Hon. Senator Mavenyengwa. This motion however is filled with sorrow. Most of the time we submit our views through debates but what we have realised is that nothing is being taken to board after making our contributions. This motion is raising issues to do with climate change, I will agree with that, yes, a lot has changed in our climate as a country. The changes that are being made, especially in our climate need men and women who can work together with the next generation which we are bearing in mind not to be self-centred people. We need to know that when, for example, if the climate has changed, what the changes are, what is it that is going to affect us as human beings and also our livestock? It makes it easy for us to know the climate changes that are upcoming.
When I remember at a certain time, the late hero, Joshua Nkomo who was fighting issues to do with racism whereby black people were alleged that they are rich, he used an example of the word money in Ndebele, “imali”. When u read that word starting from the end it will give you a meaning of the Ndebele word farming “lima”
I remember when our country was still under the leadership of the white people, Zimbabwe was a bread basket for Africa. No one used to face the challenges of drought. Our elders used to participate during the war of liberation because their working conditions were not good. Hence, the reason why they had to fight during the war of liberation. We used to have so much rain because we respected our traditions. We had our traditional places, especially in a place called Njelele where we used to perform rain-making ceremonies. We also have to take note that among us, we have chiefs who are the custodians of our traditions. Way back we used to perform rain-making ceremonies and why are we not going back to such practices.
However, in as much as we try to make so much contribution over these issues, we know that it is not everything that is adopted by our Government. Hence, the reason why sometimes we end up adopting to the customs that were prescribed by the white people. Coming from Matabeleland which is a dry region, we used to receive so much rain, especially in Njelele and Manyangwa, that is where we used to perform rain making ceremonies.
In addition, with the modernisation that came, you will realise that a lot was disturbed, especially our customs. When I refer to Burkina Faso that had to block most of the modernisation that was implemented, that is when they discovered gold. However, in Zimbabwe we are moving with modernisation and leaving our traditions behind. As I speak, we received so much rains this year. However you will realise that those who are in rural areas, there are so many people who were affected.
In some rural areas, there are people who are going to experience drought again this year. There are some who failed to conduct their farming activities due to a lack of proactive planning by our Government. We had a dry spell last year, why did our Government not prepare enough knowing very well that we were anticipating so much rains. We were supposed to be well prepared as a country for we all know that we major in farming as a country, why were tractors not distributed to people in rural areas? We were all aware that most of the livestock that they use for farming were destroyed by the drought season last year. Why did we not plan ahead? I will give an example of Masvingo Dam. You realise that it is already spilling over. What is it that the community in that area is benefiting? We need to have a Government that will be proactive in planning, especially in the area that I have just alluded to. Why can we not plan ahead and make use of the water that was harvested, especially in that dam? Why not copy what is happening in other countries, for example in India? I will just mention this, nothing much is going to be done.
There is a way of keeping the water that has been harvested. We harvested water in Kariba but nothing was done and that water benefited people from Zambia. We can have irrigation schemes. We can have solar plants but we have to take note that it is not everyone who is able to benefit. It is not everyone who has the money. It is not everyone who is working. How then are you going to get the money that you use for buying the solar that you need to use? Most of our children who went to school are not employed. We are saying there is so much solar energy in the country. Where is that solar? We are seeing it only on social media platforms. We are not seeing the implementation. For example, I am not able to get loans from the banks. They want security. I am not even able to buy a tractor.
As Hon. Members, we do not even have USD10 in our pockets. When people look at you, they think that we have so much money whilst this is the other way around. Most people are not employed hence the reason why the Government should make a plan of assisting especially in rural areas, with irrigation and also resuscitating the dams.
I know that it is towards the end of the year and it is already late for us to make those plans. People are already suffering as they are faced with the drought region. Yes, there is rice that is being distributed through the Presidential Scheme. When we distributed rice, most of them were saying, thank you for the rice that you are giving us but we do not have enough.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE (HON. SEN. KAMBIZI): Order, order Hon. Member. I think you should stick to the motion on climate change mitigation. It looks like you are straying from the motion.
HON. SEN. S. MOYO: Thank you Mr. President. I agree on what you have just said and correct me. Most of the things that I have alluded to are caused by climate change. As I proceed Mr. President, we need to have a look at the things or review rather the things that I have alluded to. There is a need for the Government to talk to our chiefs on the way forward or actually consider going back to our traditions, do the traditional meals or planting more seeds that will produce traditional meals.
As a country, I believe Mr. President, if we work as a team and request that we go back to our traditions, go back to what was done by our forefathers - we accept that there is modernisation, but let us not have modernisation overtaking our traditions. There is need to constantly refer back to our traditions. You realise that when there is drought, it does not affect human beings only, it also affects livestock. Sometimes when we see so much rains, we thank God because you realise that our livestock and the birds of the air will actually benefit from that at the same time, even as human beings, they were able to benefit as well. I thank you.
∞HON. SEN. MPANDE: Thank you for giving me this opportunity. Mr. President, I am debating on climate change.
When there is too much rain, it is a problem. Lack of rain is also a problem. Since we realised that the weather patterns have changed, you need to have a variety of seeds that are in line with the pattern. If you grow maize, it requires a lot of water but millet requires less rain, especially the middle one, not the taller one. That way, you will get a better harvest.
Like this year, there was good rainfall but people did not have seed to grow. I hereby request Government to disburse seeds or inputs much earlier before the rains start. If you receive seeds after the rains have started, you are already left behind and you are not going to beat the weather challenge. You need to prepare well in advance to contest with the weather. Right now, since we looking at the good rains that we received, it means our livestock is alright but for people, there is a lot of drought. I thank you.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I move that the debate do now again.
HON. GOTORA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 8th May, 2025.
MOTION
LEGALISATION OF TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY
Eighth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on access to safe legal abortion services.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. CHIEF NGUNGUBANE: Thank you Mr. President for allowing me to debate this motion and also thank colleague Hon. Senator Chinyanga for this very important motion. Mr. President, first and foremost, I think whilst my Honourable Senator has a good cause because we have high incidences of abortion that are taking place in the country. However, I disagree with the content of the motion.
First and foremost, when we deal with abortion, the motion calls that we legalise abortion. When you define abortion, it is something that is done clandestinely and not within the confines of the law. I would have preferred that her motion should have been in line with the legal dictates of the terminology involved in abortion, that is to say, the determination of unwanted pregnancy.
I think that motion would have made much sense Mr. President. Secondly, as a chief, I am actually surprised and even shocked that our beloved women senators are saying that the laws should be changed to allow abortion. That is quite scary Mr. President. To allow abortions, to allow our little girls to enjoy premarital sex, they are doing it. We have forgotten those that have not engaged. You are saying let us have a free-for-all when it comes to sexual debut. We are saying let us burden our health system by offering abortion services at all healthcare centres. I humbly disagree to disagree with my learned Senator. Mr. President, the law already, if you read Section 48 and the termination of unwanted pregnancy, it provides for termination of unwanted pregnancy.
It is not as if this country does not have laws that deal with that subject issue. Yes, the law is a cake passed in 1977 at the height of colonial oppression in the country. I think the debate is to say, how do we make amendments that will suit our society today? If we legalise abortion because most women and girls are doing it, we are not addressing the problem- [HON. MEMBERS: Hear, hear.]- The problem is the erosion of societal norms and values in our country. That is what we should be strengthening so that we address this problem.
If we were to take that line and legalise abortion, women and girls rushing to terminate unwanted pregnancy, I am also thinking of the hardcore criminals, in that manner, they will say ‘Parliament, you have set a precedence where you allow girls and women to abort, why do you not legalise criminality’? This is because it is also a social scourge in our country.
If we were to do that as Parliament, we will be failing to act within our mandate. In 2013, during the Constitution-making process and during the outreach programme to which I was a member and to which several Senators were members of that process, Zimbabweans said let us not legalise abortion and were clear. Moreover, we passed this referendum with more than 93 percent and it is almost a majority to say the issues in the Constitution, we agree with them in totality. Recently, the Minister of Justice brought a Bill to terminate the death penalty and we were all in unison and supported it.
However, I am actually shocked Mr. President. This is because if you read Section 48, the Fundamental Rights, it talks of the fundamental right to life. It calls that Parliament may provide for the death penalty. Section 48 gave Parliament a mandate to deal with this issue and we dealt with it resoundingly. A few months down the line, we are saying let us reintroduce the death penalty through other means. I do not think we are applying the spirit and the letter of the Constitution in its totality.
As a chief, if we allow such a motion, we are already perpetuating the problem of prostitution. We are saying women and girls because the end product, if you get pregnant, you can decide to go and terminate. We are already having a problem of prostitution. When we say let us abort or terminate pregnancies willy-nilly, we are further promoting prostitution.
Secondly, we are saying let us import foreign values into our country. Foreign values come through legislation among other areas.
Mr. President, if you read the termination of unwanted pregnancies of South Africa, it gives women rights. Imagine, I am with my wife, we agree and plan to have a family, that law empowers a woman without even agreeing as a couple, to go and terminate that pregnancy. Is this the route that we want to go as Zimbabwe? I think as traditional leaders, we must safeguard that it is not everything that is foreign that is good for us. Let us copy and imitate what suits our environment and not to say everything that comes from outside the country will suit Zimbabwe. I think in that manner as a Parliament, we need to scrutinise legislation, motions, policies that are invariant with our customs and norms.
Thirdly, this will destroy the institution of marriage as I have already alluded to. This is because the next thing, women will say we want power and do not need to consent to inform our husbands, will just go to a clinic and terminate. Just like that, what is it doing to our country? It is destroying the marriage institution. It is also destroying the marriage institution because these young girls - we need to catch them young. We know that some of them are debuting into sex at the age of nine , 10, 11 or 12. She is already pregnant as young as she is and we do not like it. We add the burden of saying we now allow you to go and abort. It is very scary Mr. President.
I think we should be very clear on our values and identities. I would agree to a very minute extent. There is a recent High Court judgement, I think it was passed two or three years ago where Justice Makuva ruled that Section 2 (1) of the termination of unwanted pregnancy was unconstitutional. I think that is where we should be seized as parliamentarians, to say the judiciary has given us a mandate to go and correct a law that was passed in 1977. They would agree because the judge in his judgment noted that marital rape is not covered in this Act. Survivors of rape are not covered in this Act. Safe and legal termination of this pregnancy is also not covered. If we rest on our laurels, the President can apply his powers and make sure that this judgment falls in line with the Constitution. There was, I cannot remember which judgment, where we really slept on duty as Parliament and it took His Excellency to correct their normally.
Mr. President, in conclusion, Section 48 really defines the route that we have taken as a country. In law there is a legal debate on the status of a fetus, whether it is considered to be a human being or not, if it is alive or not. The legal experts have failed because there is this school of thought that says the moment you pinch a child and when they start crying, that is the time that you consider that child to be a human being. The other school of thought, the narcissist view is that the fetus, as long as it is in the woman's child, it is viewed as a human being. It is alive and we need to protect and that is where Section 48 comes in saying Parliament must put measures to ensure that the lives of unborn babies are protected. The Constitution does not say ‘may’ but it gives us a direction as Parliament and I am of the humble view that we must be taking that route of solving societal problems that are manifesting today and ensuring that women do not just abort for the sake of aborting. Section 2 provides for the number of ways in which a woman can terminate a pregnancy. Number one, if the life of that woman is under threat. However, there are certain conditions where you cannot go to a clinic and say I want to terminate this pregnancy, for example, at more than 20 weeks of pregnancy. They will say at this stage it is not safe and it is impossible for you to abort. However, from zero to 20 weeks, it is the time when you are legally allowed to abort as a woman. So, if your life is threatened as a woman, it is allowed and the law provides that in black and white. We value the lives of our women and that is why the legislature says if it concerns their life, let us agree to terminate that pregnancy so that we spare the life of the woman. Number 2; if the fetus is deemed to be born with structural and serious defects the law allows the termination of the pregnancy. Last but not least, issues of rape and incest makunakuna which is not allowed in our culture. The law says you cannot have sexual intercourse that will result in pregnancy of people of close relationship such as your first or second blood cousins. There are some places where it is permissible despite being relatives but culturally, in terms of our law, it is permissible that these people can marry.
Mr. President, I wish to conclude my speech by quoting Exodus 20 verse 13, in the Ten Commandments that were given to us by the Lord through Moses. One of our founding principles and values is that Zimbabwe is a Christian nation. That defines who we are and this verse says; thou shall not kill. If I take a gun and I shoot her I will have killed and a woman that aborts according to this verse has also killed and we should suffer the same consequences. With those few words Mr. President, I know my time is up but I am appealing to this House to apply our minds as we adopt this motion because adoption of this motion and maybe subsequent changes to legislation will have catastrophic effects on this country and our societal values. I so submit. I thank you.
THE HON DEPUTY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Thank you very much Hon. Dr. Sen. Chief Ngungumbane for your contributions.
HON. SEN. MATIBIRI: Thank you Hon. President. With your indulgence, I seek permission to postpone my submission after hearing the submissions from the Chief. It is not because I am shying away from the debate but I think I need to do justice and I am seeking that indulgence to prepare myself adequately.
*HON. SEN. HUNGWE: Thank you Mr. President. I want to add my voice as a woman contributing but the chief has said it all. There is a singer called Dhuterere who sang that the blood of that which you have aborted will be crying because it is a person. I want to add that Members of this House should not ruin our culture by going against our culture and prayers. The chief has reminded us that we are all Christians and spoke on one of the commandments that says; thou shall not kill. We need to remember that the laws that we pass as Parliament should not be a legacy of failure and the 10th Parliament should not be remembered as one that agreed to pass a law allowing killing. The ancestors of this land do not want people who kill. That is why the stay-away protests had no takers because people did not want to kill or spill blood. Once we agree on that law, we would have killed our nation. How would I feel if my daughter-in-law or my own daughter aborts? Probably that person in the future would benefit the whole generation. I do not know those who tabled the motion, if they had done a thorough investigation and agreed that we could do that. I think if it was possible, we should do away with that motion. It makes us a laughing stock as a nation. The President would not understand why he is giving us money. The chief has said a lot and I am not going to repeat. We do not want to adopt laws from other countries. If you look at our neighbouring country, prostitution is there and it comes with diseases because if I get pregnant, I can abort and find another man. What we are saying is that Zimbabwe is a Christian country which has its own morals and our ancestors who are very good, who do not want us to kill people. Thank you.
Hon. Sen. C. Mutsvangwa having spoken while seated.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Hon. Senator Mutsvangwa, normally you stand when you want to show that you want to debate.
HON. SEN. C. MUTSVANGWA: It is not a debate, I am raising a point of order.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Oh, that is fine and go ahead.
*HON. SEN. C. MUTSVANGWA: The immediate last speaker made reference to a neighbouring country and this neighbouring country is our best friend. I do not think she has seen how bad those words are against the country which is our best friend.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: For the interest of the House, which country did the previous speaker mention?
HON. SEN. C. MUTSVANGWA: South Africa.
THE TEMPORARY PRESIDENT OF SENATE: Alright, so we will proceed.
HON. SEN. CHINYANGA: Mr. President, I move that the debate do now adjourn.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 8th May, 2025.
MOTION
REPORT OF THE THEMATIC COMMITTEE ON CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE ENQUIRY INTO THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT
Nineth Order read: Adjourned debate on motion on the report of the Thematic Committee on Climate Change on the enquiry into the impact of Climate Change on Human-Wildlife Conflict induced by Climate Change in 2024.
Question again proposed.
HON. SEN. GOTORA: I move that debate on this motion do adjourn.
HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA: I second.
Motion put and agreed to.
Debate to resume: Thursday, 8th May, 2025.
On the motion of HON. SEN. GOTORA, seconded by HON. SEN. MAVENYENGWA, the Senate adjourned at Twenty-Seven Minutes past Four o’clock p.m.